Darnold was out­stand­ing against one of the top de­fenses in the Pac12, show­ing why USC has surged since he be­came the starter. Darnold’s lofted pass over line­backer D.J. Beavers and into the arms of tight end Daniel Ima­torb­hebhe for an 8-yard touch­down strike in the open­ing mo­ments of the fourth quar­ter gave USC an 11-point lead that Wash­ing­ton (9-1, 6-1 Pac-12, No. 4 CFP) couldn’t over­come.

Dar­reus Rogers had six catches for 84 yards and a touch­down, while Ima­torb­hebhe added five catches for 78 yards. Wash­ing­ton lost start­ing mid­dle line­backer Azeem Vic­tor in the sec­ond quar­ter to a lower right leg in­jury that re­quired an air cast and a cart to take the Huskies’ lead­ing tack­ler off the field. But his ab­sence was felt more in the pass game where USC ex­ploited the mid­dle of the field.